How did you get that size?

Welcome to the first Family Size Blog Carnival!

This post was written for inclusion in the Family Size Blog Carnival hosted by Kerry at City Kids Homeschooling and Patti at Jazzy Mama. Today our participants share their decisions on family size and whether or not to grow their families. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

***

Most (3 out of 4) of my family growth spurts were... by chance? I wouldn't call them "accidents." I got knocked up at 16 years old. I gave her up (to my mother) within the first year.

17yo me, sharing a bite with my firstborn

I later married. I had been married for 5 years when we conceived "Daddy's little booboo." He loved to say that "I was pokin' fun. I didn't know she was gonna take me seriously!" And then there was "You practice long enough, eventually you're bound to get it right!" I'd had baby fever for awhile, so I was thrilled to be pregnant, even though it was unplanned. Though to the bitter end, my ex-husband insisted I got pregnant on purpose. Not true.

25yo me, with my second child

I continued to have baby fever through our daughter's infancy. I did eventually get pregnant again, but by then we were not wanting another child. My ex-husband totally supported my choice to terminate the pregnancy.

Fast forward several years. I left that family setting and started dating my current husband. We also accidentally conceived a child. My then-boyfriend refused to argue one way or the other regarding termination vs. keeping the baby, insisting it was my choice. I was very torn and we were pretty new into our relationship.

I weighed pros and cons for days, but I kept coming back to the same issue. I felt like I wanted to have this baby. Shortly after deciding to keep that child, I had a threatened miscarriage. She made it, though, and was a very healthy baby girl! We got married when I was 8 months pregnant. Still, I was in my mid-thirties and pregnancy had been a lot harder on my now-older body. We decided we were done. Permanent birth control alluded us temporarily, though.

My 2nd & 3rd Children
Ronni & Sasha

After about a year, though, we agreed... we wanted to try for one more baby. He had always wanted a son and we both wanted our daughter to have a sibling close to her age. We were thrilled to welcome our son in December 2011!

My 3rd & 4th Children
Big Sister Sasha loves Baby Brother Spencer

During our pregnancy, we finally did take permanent measures to ensure that our family size would not change again. I'm nearing the big 4-0 and just don't think I should be enduring any more pregnancies. I'm a bit sad about it since I love the process, including birth. But neither of us wants one more baby in the mix. We have our hands full with a 13yo, 2yo and a newborn! That said, we haven't gotten our "all clear" test after his vasectomy yet... so one more isn't impossible.

I'm liking this size family. Previously I'd only dealt with my kids in an only-child sort of arrangement. We have an older child to help with the toddler on occasion. (They especially love doing baths.) And it is sweet to see the toddler love on the newborn. And the newborn... ah, if only I could have newborn after newborn! It is such a sweet phase.

If, however, we happen to wind up with one more before his vasectomy "takes," we know we'd love that child, too. I just think my body wouldn't like to be pregnant again without a break first! A woman needs a chance to heal... especially a woman my age.

What size is your family? Why?

***

Visit City Kids Homeschooling and Jazzy Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Family Size Blog Carnival!

Please take some time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants below:

• The Perfect Family The family at Living Peacefully With Children isn't perfect, but the size is just right for them...at least for now.
• Family Size Carnival Zoie at TouchstoneZ discusses how she loves the extremes of being happily child-free for life to being a mom of several. And on knowing when her family is just the right size.
• Is Adoption for Me? Christine at African Babies Don't Cry shares why she would consider adoption as the socially responsible way to have a large family.
• Getting Used to Having Kids Lauren at Hobo Mama went from "probably one, maybe two" to wanting a handful, but not without some major struggles and soul searching along the way.
• Magic Number For a while, Phoebe at Little Tinker Tales has wondered what the magic number will be for their family, but now thinks she's finally settled on an answer.
• How Did You Get That Size Jorje explains how she "chose" her family size and why they aren't planning to grow again on Momma Jorje.com.
• Family Size On A Per Kid Basis Sarah at Parenting God's Children shares how plans change as families grow.
• More Babies: How, When, Why Joella at Fine and Fair writes to her daughter about when, how, and why she might get a sibling.
• Family Size Kelly at Becoming Crunchy shares how she has no idea what size her family will end up being; though she used to be sure, a few factors have recently come up to change everything.
• Thy Will Be Done CatholicMommy hasn't decided how many children she'll have. And she never will. Because, you know, she's Catholic.
• Sanity and Health Kat at Loving {Almost} Every Moment talks about sanity and health considerations when deciding on her family's size.
• Love Comes In All Sizes Melissa at White Noise and Mothers of Change shares her family's journey to becoming a family of six!
• Family Size Liz at Homeschooling in Buffalo discusses how this carnival occurs less than two weeks after "closing up shop" by way of vasectomy.
• Family Size Blog Carnival Billy, a single mother by choice, writes about the size of her family at My Pathway to Motherhood.
• Creating Your Perfect Family Size Dr. Alan Singer shares insights from his new book, Creating Your Perfect Family Size.
• Our Family Size You might not be surprised to learn that Patti at Jazzy Mama can't find any reasons NOT to have more babies.
• Economics of Family Size Kerry at City Kids Homeschooling uses an economic cost-benefit analysis to determine her family's optimal size.